The following relates generally to e-commerce and, more particularly, relates to a system and method for directing the attention of a user to functionality offered via a Web site.
In the art it is known to monitor interactions of a user with a Web site. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 6,877,007, which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety, describes a system and method that tracks interaction of a user with content provided by a Web site. To this end, input made by a user as the user interacts with Web page(s) that comprise the Web site, such as mouse movements, button clicks, typing, etc., is streamed back to a tracking server and stored. The stored information related to the user's interactions with the Web site may then be analyzed and used, for example, to redesign the Web site so as to make it more user friendly or more easily navigable.
Published U.S. Application No. 2005/0044139, which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety, also describes a system and method in which interactions of a user with a Web site are monitored by keeping logs of clicks on Web page links. For this purpose, a Web page developer includes a link identifier in a selectable link of a Web page. When the selectable link is clicked on by a client, the link identifier triggers a click tracking system to initiate click tracking for that particular link. The click on the link is then logged by a tracking server and the client is redirected to a destination specified in the link. Usage patterns may then be derived from statistics generated from the log files on the tracking server.
Published U.S. Application No. 2006/0015614, incorporated herein by reference, additionally describes a system and method which monitors interactions of a user with a Web site by tracking clicks for the purpose of administering Web site referral fees.
While these and other known methods for monitoring interactions of a user with a Web site have been advantageously used to collect information for a myriad of different purposes, a need still remains for a system and method which utilizes information gained from monitoring interactions of a user with a Web site to advantageously direct the attention of a user to functionality offered via a Web site.